People compulsively unlock their smartphone for no reason

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Worrying new research has revealed we reach for our smartphones around 4,000 times a year for no apparent reason.

Each day we unlock our phone 28 times – and over a third of the time this is compulsive and unnecessary.

The apps we crave most are Facebook, followed by WhatsApp, Gmail and Instagram, the survey found.

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Worrying new research has revealed we reach for our smartphones around 4,000 times a year for no apparent reason (stock image)

PHONE ADDICTION

Each day we unlock our phone 28 times – and over a third of the time this is impulsive and totally unnecessary, the study found.

More than 40 per cent of the 10,000 times users check smartphones each year is ‘compulsive’.

More than one in three people think they are addicted to checking their phone with the average user spending nearly an hour each day on their phone.

The apps we crave most are Facebook, followed by WhatsApp, Gmail and Instagram.

Google Maps was considered the most useful app while WhatsApp and Gmail came second and third. Google Chrome was fourth and Facebook came in fifth.

Researchers looked at 2,000 UK smartphone users in order to find out whether checking their device was out of habit or necessity.

They found more than 40 per cent of the 10,000 times users check smartphones each year is ‘compulsive’.

The top ten per cent of users check their phones more than 60 times a day.

‘Our smart devices have become an essential part of modern life, and checking them regularly is second nature for most users’, said Greg Tatton-Brown, spokesperson for Malta-based online casino Casumo.com, who carried out the survey.

‘However the instances of compulsive checking are much higher than we would have imagined, showing our phones are as much a habit as they are an aide to our busy lifestyles and an immediate source of entertainment, from wherever we are.’

More than one in three people think they are addicted to checking their phone with the average user spending nearly an hour each day on their phone.

The survey also found Google Maps is considered the most useful app while WhatsApp and Gmail come second and third.

Google Chrome is fourth and Facebook comes in fifth.

‘Despite the presence of more useful apps, Facebook is the service which wins our time in the end,’ Mr Tatton-Brown said.

‘Gmail, Maps and a host of messaging services may help us more to organise our lives, but checking our updates on Facebook remains truly compulsive viewing instead of consciously looking for an entertaining break away from our daily routines.’

This research is the latest to look at the potentially damaging effect of smartphones.

Research last week scientists found the average child is now getting their smartphone at just ten years old which is having long-lasting effects on their brain.

More than one in three people think they are addicted to checking their phone with the average user spending nearly an hour each day on their phone (stock image)

The findings reveals teenagers who are addicted to their smartphones are more likely to suffer from mental disorders, including depression and anxiety.

The brain scans also showed the levels of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical that slows down brain signals, and glutamate-glutamine (Glx), a chemical that causes brain cells to become more electrically excited, in each participant’s brain.

Previous studies have found GABA to be involved in vision and motor control and the regulation of various brain functions, including anxiety.

Results showed that addicted teenagers had much higher GABA levels, and lower Glx levels than the controls.